El Nino May Help Spread Rabies Among Seals

A powerful El Nino and a newly discovered threat in the ocean could soon collide in an unsettling way. The World Organization for Animal Health is warning that shifting fish stocks linked to El Nino may push healthy seal populations into contact with Cape fur seals infected with rabies—raising the risk the virus could spread across the Southern Hemisphere, reports the Telegraph. Rabies was first confirmed in Cape fur seals off South Africa in 2024, the first known instance of the disease in marine mammals.

They likely contracted the disease from a dog or jackal, per a WOAH release, and the rabies has been largely contained within the Cape fur population. El Nino, a naturally occurring weather pattern, could change that, because this year's unusually intense one is likely to disrupt fish migrations. The fear is that seals in Antarctica will have to venture north toward Africa for food, come into contact with rabid South African seals, then return home with the disease. WOAH is urging countries to step up monitoring of marine mammals and ensure supplies of vaccines and post-exposure shots, stressing that early detection and reporting are critical as researchers race to understand how rabies is moving through the sea.